New taxes increase bureaucracy and force some 500,000 Romanians to stand in queue each month, one newspaper reads on Tuesday. Another reads how the Ceausescu-built world famous House of the People in Bucharest has come to be valued nothing. Also in the papers today - moves to make Romanian railways more efficient, challenges to fiscal authorities' access to bank accounts and the results of Miss Universe 2010.
"Scandalous", Gandul newspaper reads on the effects of a government decision to force people pay personally the new contributions applied to copyright income. Some 500,000 Romanians will have to stand in long queues every month to give money to the state - contributions to the pensions and health funds. That comes after the government decided to introduce these contributions to people who earn money from copyright, solely or additionally to other types of income. And the paper notes that while these 500,000 people have to pay their first such contribution by August 25, nobody knows the procedures exactly.
Meanwhile, business magazine Capital tells how the House of the People - the world famous, record-breaking huge building built by Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in Bucharest - has come to value "zero lei". According to the magazine, the House, now named the Palace of the Parliament, figures in the documents of the House of Deputies with a value of zero lei. Even though state institutions have to evaluate their property portfolio every seven years, nobody cares to pay somebody to do it. And 20-year old rules, the fear of higher taxes or the risk of identifying missing assets do not make authorities provide real data, the magazine reads in its explanation of how major state-owned properties are valued nothing or almost nothing.
Elsewhere in the news, Evenimentul Zilei reads that the Transport Ministry has understood that railway transport in Romania has become a dangerous affair and claims the solution stands in layoffs and a lower number of railway flights. The ministry announced a set of redundancy measures at the Romanian Railways (CFR) and sister companies yesterday. But according to the newspaper experts claim that CFR employees are the only people capable of preventing railway malfunctions.
For its part, Romania libera reads that senators from the Economic Commission are planning to block unlimited access of fiscal authority ANAF to the banking accounts of companies. That comes as a bill on fighting tax evasion initiated by the Finance Ministry has been submitted for debate in the Senate. The bill says ANAF would have full access to the accounts of firms. A Social Democratic (opposition) senator who initiated an amendment to the bill is quoted by the newspaper as claiming that such unlimited access could transform ANAF into a political weapon and would expose any MP to fiscal agents' control.
Last but not least, Adevarul turns its eyes on the Miss Universe 2010 pageant in Las Vegas which has been won by Mexican Jumena Navarrete.The paper notes that Miss Romania, Oana Paveluc, who many in Romanian media over the past several days hoped to reach the top of the standings, could not make the semifinals and thus would not figure among the 15 finalists.
